Common Variable Immunodeficiency
Common Variable Immunodeficiency
Updated: 08/17/2020
© Jun Wang, MD, PhD
General features
- Heterogeneous group with no clearly understood etiology
- Hereditary or sporadic
- No recognizable inheritance pattern
- High risk of autoimmune, inflammatory and malignant disorders
- Increased risk of gastric carcinoma, melanoma and EB virus associated B cell lymphoma
- Diagnosis of exclusion
Clinical presentations
- 5 distinct clinical phenotypes
No complications
Antoimmunity
Polyclonal lymphocytic infiltrate
Enteropathy
Lymphoid malignancy
- Recurrent infections including diarrhea, pneumonia, otitis media, sinusitis etc
- Splenomegaly and generalized lymphadenopathy
- Autoimmune disorders
- Skin manifestations: Alopecia, etc
Genetic abnormalities
- Variable
- Transmembrane activator and calcium-modulator and cyclophilin ligand interactor (TACI)
- Inducible co-stimulator of activated T cells (ICOS)
- Others
Pathogenesis
- Defects in immunoglobulin production due to either intrinsic B-cell abnormalities, or T-cell mediated activation of B cells
- Defective immunoglobulin isotype switch
- Impaired toll-like receptor signaling in B cells and dendritic cells
- Decreased T cell proliferation
- Reduced response to T cell receptor stimulations
Key Laboratory findings
- Significantly reduced IgG
- Low IgA and/or IgM
- Poor or absent response to immunization
- Usually normal CBC, urinalysis unless comorbidity occurs
Key morphological features
- Loss of plasma cells in tissue
Diagnosis
- Diagnosis of exclusion
- Absence of any other defined immunodeficiency state
Managements
- Immunoglobulin replacement
- Treatments of infections
- Treatments targeting organ involved
Back to contents
Comments
Post a Comment